Bears

Bears fans wondering about coach Matt Nagy’s in-game adjustments might consider this a good sign. Nagy, a bald man — like me — had been wearing a visor during practices this spring. Until this week, when he wisely switched to a hat. Bald men don’t wear visors. Not that they can’t, but generally...

Welcome to the weekly Bear Download podcast with Rich Campbell and Dan Wiederer. Listen below or subscribe and listen on iTunes | Stitcher | Google Play Rich and Dan break down the Bears defense — a defensive pod-gress report, so to speak (1:44), set over/unders for Rich's trip to the ballpark...

Cubs

Adam Plutko wasn’t exactly a name that rolled off the tongue of Cubs players before Wednesday night’s game against the Indians at Wrigley Field. The 26-year-old Indians right-hander was making only his second career start, and unless you were one of those seamheads who knows every player on every...

Indians reliever Andrew Miller said he knew what Joe Maddon was going to do, and sure enough, Maddon ordered Javier Baez to lay down a squeeze bunt that Miller easily — easily – turned into a 1-2 putout of Anthony Rizzo at the plate late in a 1-0 game – in a 1-0 Cubs loss. But wait. It gets worse....

A recast lineup Wednesday night couldn’t pull the Cubs out of their latest scoring slump. Ian Happ batted leadoff for the first time since April 17, but the Cubs were limited to three hits in a 1-0 loss as the Indians completed a two-game sweep at Wrigley Field. The Cubs scored only one run — Happ’s...

Welington Castillo was conducting a postgame TV interview after Tuesday night’s White Sox win when Yolmer Sanchez interrupted and dumped a bucket of Gatorade over his own head. The Sox were trending upward for the first time this season, and everyone was seemingly in on the fun. But everything...

Bulls

The NBA announced its All-Defensive teams Wednesday, and no Bulls received votes — about as unsurprising as a Jimmy Butler selection. Butler, whom the Bulls traded to the Timberwolves in June, landed on the second team for the fourth time. The first team comprised the Pelicans’ Jrue Holiday and...

Blackhawks

It isn't very easy getting Victor Ejdsell on the phone, not that he isn't willing to talk. It's just that the Swedish forward wasn’t sure how much time he would be spending in North America and hasn’t upgraded his cell phone plan. “It has been stupid,” he said with a laugh. Nearly two months after...

Alex Ovechkin lifted the Prince of Wales Trophy, spun around and set it back down on a table. The rest of the Capitals joined him for a team photo after beating the Tampa Bay Lightning 4-0 on Wednesday night in Game 7 of the Eastern Conference final, a victory that sent Washington to the Stanley...

Good thing for Jim Cornelison that the Blackhawks didn’t make the Stanley Cup playoffs this year. The renowned national anthem singer, whose booming rendition of “The Star-Spangled Banner” has been a staple at Hawks home games since 2007, will perform “(Back Home Again in) Indiana” on Sunday before...

College sports

Cox Media Group plans to shutter its Diehards Network of college sports websites, including the Big Ten sports news website Land of Ten, the Southeastern Conference-centric SEC Country and Diehards.com. Staff members tweeted Wednesday that the plug is to be pulled at the end of June, which is six...

DePaul received a surprising oral commitment Tuesday from four-star forward Romeo Weems, the top-ranked recruit in Michigan who picked the Blue Demons over in-state powers Michigan State and Michigan. The Blue Demons have a history of being spurned as a finalist for touted recruits. But Weems,...

Most read sports stories this hour

After the Milwaukee Police department released footage of a January interaction with Bucks guard Sterling Brown, several NBA players reacted with the hashtag #StandwithSterling. The video that was made public on Wednesday showed several officers forcefully restraining Brown and using a Taser on...

President Donald Trump on Thursday granted a rare posthumous pardon to boxing's first black heavyweight champion, clearing Jack Johnson's name more than 100 years after what many see as his racially-charged conviction. "It's my honor to do it. It's about time," Trump said during an Oval Office...

Mark Helfrich’s first media session in four months began Wednesday just minutes after the Bears completed their fifth full spring practice. The new offensive coordinator hadn’t had time to process the fresh set of reminders that the offense is a dirt lot with orange under-construction signs all...

White Sox catcher Welington Castillo was suspended 80 games without pay on Thursday for violation of baseball’s drug testing rules. MLB said Castillo tested positive for Erythropoietin (EPO), a performance-enhancing substance. “I was recently notified by Major League Baseball that I had tested...

Milwaukee police on Wednesday released footage captured by a body camera that shows Bucks rookie and Maywood native Sterling Brown, 23, being arrested and police using a Taser on him after a parking violation. The incident occured at 2 a.m. on Jan. 26. Officers doing a routine check at a Walgreens...

President Donald Trump is claiming victory following the adoption of a new NFL policy that could bring disciplinary action for players who kneel or make other protests during the national anthem. "You have to stand proudly for the national anthem or you shouldn't be playing," Trump said in an interview...

Perhaps Kevin White knows that even a profound monologue on his readiness for a breakout season won’t change public perception until he can show his ability to stay on the field. Perhaps he’s just tired of the narrative of working back from adversity, now in its third year. But as White met with...

Waiting for a Cubs starter to throw a complete game this season has been an exercise in futility. Just once I’d like to see Willson Contreras jog to the mound and shake the starter’s hand, as catchers used to do regularly when pitching decisions were made with the gut instead of the laptop. It...

The Bears returned to Halas Hall for their second week of organized team activities. Here’s what we learned as offensive players and coaches spoke to the media Wednesday. Bears quarterback Mitch Trubisky said he thinks rookie wide receiver Anthony Miller is “going to help that group a lot.” Trubisky...

Adam Plutko wasn’t exactly a name that rolled off the tongue of Cubs players before Wednesday night’s game against the Indians at Wrigley Field. The 26-year-old Indians right-hander was making only his second career start, and unless you were one of those seamheads who knows every player on every...

Indians reliever Andrew Miller said he knew what Joe Maddon was going to do, and sure enough, Maddon ordered Javier Baez to lay down a squeeze bunt that Miller easily — easily – turned into a 1-2 putout of Anthony Rizzo at the plate late in a 1-0 game – in a 1-0 Cubs loss. But wait. It gets worse....

Bears fans wondering about coach Matt Nagy’s in-game adjustments might consider this a good sign. Nagy, a bald man — like me — had been wearing a visor during practices this spring. Until this week, when he wisely switched to a hat. Bald men don’t wear visors. Not that they can’t, but generally...

Charlie Tilson is back with the White Sox and in the starting lineup for Thursday’s 1:10 p.m. game (WGN-9, WGN-AM 720) against the Orioles. Tilson took the roster spot of Leury Garcia, who was placed on the 10-day disabled list with a left knee sprain. Tilson was recalled from Triple-A Charlotte,...

Welington Castillo was conducting a postgame TV interview after Tuesday night’s White Sox win when Yolmer Sanchez interrupted and dumped a bucket of Gatorade over his own head. The Sox were trending upward for the first time this season, and everyone was seemingly in on the fun. But everything...

Stand or stay out of sight. Looking to quell a national debate that was sparked by Colin Kaepernick, stoked by President Trump and some say chipped away at the very popularity of America's game, NFL owners approved a new policy Wednesday that allows players to protest during the national anthem...

Just when you think the NFL is done making your soul pulsate with detestation, it says, “Hold my beer.” The league on Wednesday dealt with the idea of protest in a dimwitted way that spits in the face of the idea of free speech. The new rule on the national anthem and kneeling is NO. If team personnel...

Nobody should be surprised when a league that polices how high players wear their socks limits how far they can go to express their convictions. Yet the NFL outdid itself with the absurdity of a new rule announced Wednesday that requires players to stand during the national anthem or risk their...

The NBA announced its All-Defensive teams Wednesday, and no Bulls received votes — about as unsurprising as a Jimmy Butler selection. Butler, whom the Bulls traded to the Timberwolves in June, landed on the second team for the fourth time. The first team comprised the Pelicans’ Jrue Holiday and...

A recast lineup Wednesday night couldn’t pull the Cubs out of their latest scoring slump. Ian Happ batted leadoff for the first time since April 17, but the Cubs were limited to three hits in a 1-0 loss as the Indians completed a two-game sweep at Wrigley Field. The Cubs scored only one run — Happ’s...

The White Sox have cornered the market on playing nondescript games before tiny crowds. Before they rallied late Tuesday night to take down the Orioles, the Sox played another buzz-free game before about 12,500 fans at Guaranteed Rate Field. Give Yolmer Sanchez & Co. credit for rallying from down...

On the eve of President Barack Obama's departure from office, his administration closed a program it started nearly three years earlier called the Clemency Initiative. It was aimed at commuting sentences mostly of nonviolent drug law offenders who almost certainly would receive much lesser sentences...

The Bears’ 2017 highlight reel is disappointingly short and largely uninspiring. Such is the nature of a five-win season that got the coach fired. There are, though, a few plays justifiably entrenched in Chicago’s collective memory. Ones that would stand out in any year, regardless of record. Invigorating...

Statistics that purport to show Willson Contreras is weak framing pitches hardly discourage manager Joe Maddon. “There are so many variables involved, just to come up with this one number?” Maddon said. According to Statcorner.com, 3.5 pitches per game go against the Cubs when Contreras is catching....

DePaul received a surprising oral commitment Tuesday from four-star forward Romeo Weems, the top-ranked recruit in Michigan who picked the Blue Demons over in-state powers Michigan State and Michigan. The Blue Demons have a history of being spurned as a finalist for touted recruits. But Weems,...